


Below Zero

by Rayj4ck



Category: No Straight Roads (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, Post-Canon, Spoilers, They're all friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-27
Updated: 2020-09-27
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:28:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26673664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rayj4ck/pseuds/Rayj4ck
Summary: An artist's retreat to the mountains faces some unfortunate weather.
Relationships: Eve | Nadia/Mayday (No Straight Roads), Mayday & Zuke (No Straight Roads), NSR & B2J
Comments: 12
Kudos: 171





	Below Zero

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't even finished the game yet. I just watched a video of all the boss fights. I can just FEEL this one in my bones.

“Dangit!” Mayday cursed as she threw her phone across the room, folding her arms as it  _ whump _ ed against the couch cushions. 

“What is it Mayday?” Eve asked from her spot by the fireplace. 

“The storm,” she jerked a thumb over to the window where a torrential swarm of snowflakes was rushing by “has gotten too bad. Zuke and the others are stuck at the airport.”

“...damn.” 

A surprise invitation had been slipped through the gap in the sewer grate Bunk Bed Junction operated out of one day. NSR was taking an artists retreat up to the snowy peaks, and as close friends and the second biggest name in music in the city, B2J was cordially invited to join. After a not-so-cordial acceptance involving Zuke desperately (and unsuccessfully) trying to keep Mayday from storming into Tatiana’s office to thank her profusely, the pair agreed to go a day ahead with Eve to check the status of the cabin they had booked. None of them were too picky, but the space had to be accommodating for the varied necessities of the members (minus Sayu. Her team had let Tatiana know that they were taking up Mayday’s advice and attending a few classes to become more well rounded, so they would kindly pass). 

Thankfully the unpleasant history between Eve and Zuke seemed to have simmered away, and now the two were almost as close friends as Zuke and Mayday. Almost. When the rest of NSR had arrived, Zuke had volunteered to take the car over to pick them up while Mayday and Eve held down the fort. 

“Ugh!” Mayday flopped down onto the couch. “We should’ve gone with him! Then at least we would all be stuck together.”

“There wasn’t enough space in the truck Mayday.” Eve replied patiently from her spot next to the dying embers in the fireplace. “I’m still not sure how they plan on getting Yinu’s mother in as is.” 

“We could’a left Supernova at the airport! Just point him at a picture of the night sky and he’d be busy for a few hours! He wouldn’t have even known we were gone.”

Eve couldn’t stop the snort. “You do have a point Mayday.”

“Oh, call me May!” Mayday replied from the couch. “You don’t need to use the whole thing anymore.”

“Of course...May.”

* * *

“It’s official!” Mayday stood proudly in the doorway. “I’ve done everything you can possibly do at a mountain retreat! That must’ve passed some time.”

“It’s been 35 minutes.” 

“What??” Mayday’s head made a  _ thunk _ as she hit it against the doorframe. “This is tortureeeeeee.”

“Be thankful we’re not at the airport. Who knows what chaos is going on over there.”

“Checkmate.”

Tatiana stared down at the chessboard in shock, not even attempting to mask her emotions. She looked for any way to move or protect her king, but there was none. It really was checkmate.

“Well well.” She looked across the table to Zuke with newfound respect. “I’ll admit you surprised me.” 

“Didn’t seem like the chess type?” Zuke asked dryly. 

“To be fair, my opinions may have been a little skewed when I made my first impressions while you were whacking me with your drumsticks.”

“Can’t fault you there. Another game?”

“Absolutely.” Tatiana set her pieces back up and considered her first move. 

It was quiet in the airport, otherworldly almost. They were the only people near their boarding gate, and as they spread out to fill the space, it created an almost liminal solitude. Yinu’s mother was murmuring a story to the young prodigy, her eyes drooping dangerously close to naptime. 1010 was already “asleep” (recharging) in the corner while DJ Subatomic Supernova and Neon J sat on a bench nearby talking about the stars and their merits in naval navigation. 

“So,” Tatiana began as she made her next move “I admit I was wrong about you not being one for chess, but Mayday…”

“Definitely not.” Zuke rubbed his chin as he thought. “It’s too restrictive. She can’t work within the rules of the game, but she still plays with me every now and then. Even though she hates it.”

“Really?” Tatiana raised an eyebrow. 

“Yeah. She’s awesome like that.”

“What was that?”

Eve froze, and if Mayday were facing her she would’ve seen a guilty look flash across her face. “What was what?” 

“You just did something.” Mayday narrowed her eyes at the diva’s back.

“Definitely not.” Eve injected an air of haughty confidence into her voice, but Mayday charged right through it. 

“No I definitely saw it.” She kept her eyes trained on Eve, not letting go of what she was sure she had seen. 

Eve didn’t reply, and the two sat in silence for a long, long moment. She tried to repress it, she really did, but eventually her body shuddered of it’s own accord.

“Aha! You shivered!” Mayday cheered like she had solved a big murder case. “You’re cold!” 

“What? No, that’s absurd.” Eve scoffed, trying to deflect. “Why would I be cold?”

Mayday gave her a dead look before pointedly glancing out the window where the snowstorm raged on. 

“....I’m fine.” Eve turned back to the long cold fireplace. A sigh whispered through the air behind her, and suddenly something was coming into her vision. 

“Hold this.” It was Tatiana’s old guitar. Mayday was standing beside her, holding it by the neck down to her. 

“Why?”

“Because it’s WARM.” Mayday pressed it into her arms. Eve couldn’t stop herself from wrapping around it when it made contact with her skin. True to her words, the smooth surface of the instrument was warmer than it should’ve been in the unheated cabin. “I’ll be right back.” Eve broke out of her trance to see Mayday walking out of the room. 

“But wait, how aren’t you cold?”

“Why do you think I’ve been holding that thing this whole time?” She didn’t turn around as she said it, and Eve didn’t have a chance to respond before Mayday was gone. 

Eve wanted to call after, or get up and follow, but the warmth of Tati-May’s guitar was drawing her back like a siren song. She let her mind wander. 

She wasn’t sure how much time had passed before she heard May’s muffled footsteps returning. Craning her neck, her jaw dropped as would could only be described as a blanket blob monster rounded the corner. 

“Holy high note.”

“I know right!” Mayday dropped the pile on the floor next to them with an audible  _ thump _ . “It’s a HUUUUGE blanket! I think it’s Yinu’s mom’s, but I’m sure she won’t mind us borrowing it.” Grabbing one free corner, she took a few laps around Eve until she was thoroughly swaddled. Wiggling herself in next to Eve, the two were sitting shoulder to shoulder in what may have been a small tent. 

“Now check this out.” Mayday made grabby-motions under the blanket, and Eve handed her guitar back to her. Taking a deep breath, Mayday began to strum out a slow, quiet melody, treating it almost like an acoustic guitar. Eve couldn’t help but let out a sigh and slump against Mayday as the air under the blanket warmed by several degrees almost instantly. “Cool right?” Mayday grinned up to her. 

“Quite the opposite I would say actually.” 

Mayday let out a laugh. “I just have to be careful. It’s kinda like trying to control an excited dog. If I let it go, I miiiight set you on fire.” 

“Hhhmmm. May be worth it at this point.” Eve’s eyelids were beginning to droop.

A sour note caught her attention however, as well as the dip in temperature that accompanied it. “Sorry! Sorry.” Mayday winced guiltily. "The blanket is kinda messing with my fingers." 

Maybe she was just loopy from the cold. Or the heat. “Here. I have an idea.” 

* * *

Tatiana sighed. “They could’ve at least cleared a path to the door. They had hours.” she muttered to herself as she melted a path from the driveway to the cabin entrance, the still-falling snow sizzling off her skin. 

Turning, the unlocked doorknob, she pushed her way in. “Alright, you two, I ho-...oh.” 

“What, what is it?” Zuke tried to peer over Tatiana’s shoulder, but couldn’t get the height. Tatiana stood to the side, and Zuke looked into the building. “Oh.” 

There, leaning up against the couch but sitting on the floor, Mayday and Eve were cuddling under a blanket. Mayday was clearly sitting in Eve’s lap, and from the lumps under the blanket it looked like Eve had wrapped all six arms around the guitarist. 

“Finally!” Yinu’s voice sounded like high-pitched artillery in Zuke’s ears. 

“Ssshhh!” He tried to balance urgently and gently shushing her. With a quick look, it seemed like neither of the two had stirred, Mayday only turning to the side and burrowing her head deeper under Eve’s. He quickly ushered everyone back out off the cabin’s porch and into the snow. 

“What is it? What’s going on?” DJSS asked. Zuke held up a finger to his lips and waited. After a quiet moment, he made a big show of heavily stepping on the couple wooden steps up the porch. 

“Man! That wait at the airport sure was boring, right?!” He called much louder than necessary to the people behind him. 

“You’re right, we ended up just sitting around for hours doing absolutely nothing!” Tatiana loudly responded. Thank goodness someone got it. 

Zuke pseudo-stomped up to the door and loudly pushed it open. He saw Mayday and Eve on decidedly opposite ends of the couch. Eve was clutching a blanket around her, and Mayday had her new guitar in a vice grip. If he hadn’t seen how they had been sitting before, he might have missed the slight blush on both of their faces. He dropped back to his normal voice. “What about you two? Anything happen?” 

“Nope!” Eve’s voice was shrill. “Ran out of firewood! Got a little cold! That’s it!” 

“Uh huh.” The disbelief was audible in Tatiana’s voice. “Well, I hope you’re all ready to start up this getaway, becau-“

“Uhm, sorry.” Mayday cut in. “No disrespect Ms. Kul Tatiana-“ Tatiana’s eyebrow rose“-but I’m actually kind of tired of the cold.”

“And while the roads are now being cleared, this storm will last for at least several more days!” Neon J reported from behind her. 

“Doppler radar!” 1010 harmonized. Mayday sighed dreamily, and only Zuke who knew her so well caught Nadia’s eye twitch ever so slightly. 

Tatiana looked behind her over the shivering, tired faces of her artists. “...after input from my colleagues, I have decided to change the itinerary to a beach resort.” A cheer went up. “As artists, I’m sure we all know it’s better to give up on a bad idea rather than force it to be good.” 

“May has never had that thought once in her entire life.” Zuke deadpanned beside her. 

“Hey!” Mayday cried indignantly over the good-natured laughter “That’s not true! Remember that one time when...wheeeen….” the rest of the artists waited to hear her example “wheeeeeeeee-raceyoutothebottom!” Mayday shouldered her way past the crowd around the door and out into the snow. Dashing out onto the semi-clear road, she threw the guitar down in front of her and jumped on it like a snowboard. 

“Hey! Don’t use my guitar like that!” Tatiana tore after her, all the other artists following until only Zuke and Eve remained. 

“You know, I’m glad you‘ve  **warmed up** to May.” Zuke said to her as he watched the crew slip and stumble after Mayday. 

“What??” Nadia spun around on Zuke, but he was already jogging after everyone else. “What does that mean? Zuke? ZUKE!” 

* * *

Yinu won the race down the mountain, and the majority of the flight to the beach was spent debating if your mother shapeshifting into an 800 foot tall woman and taking the entire slope in three steps was cheating. Yinu managed to bribe her way to a critical mass using the picture of Mayday and Eve curled up under the blanket she had snuck before anyone had seen her do it. Zuke took it strictly because he knew when the two finally stopped dancing around this, Nadia would definitely want a copy for an art piece. 

**Author's Note:**

> Sayu's team was HEARTBROKEN they missed all this.


End file.
